Military News Today

The later part of 2023 we heard a lot of news stories reference AI and PM Sunak hosted an AI Conference at Bletchley Park. 

There has been widespread concern with both Russia and China regarding their reluctance to enforce stringent and ethical regulations that include AI in combat operations.

With AI, there is more questions than answers… In the West with the US, UK & Europe, a human connected element to AI so that there is always a human to overide any AI decision, but what about defensive decisions? could they be turned over to AI? Could non-lethal decisions be turned over to AI?

Putin in 2023 said that AI leaders are hesitant to impose restrictions, that coupled with all major AI leaders have a lack of any cohesive stance on restrictions regarding AI makes Putins viewpoint even more serious and we should look deeper into Russia’s role in the global evolution of AI.

We have seen Russia throw tens of thousands after tens of thousands of men at the war in Ukraine, you could be mistaken that Putin is more interested in the physical war of man on the frontline, but don’t discount Putins acknowledgement of the growing interest in AI and Russias ambitious plans in advancing military technology. 

Russia maybe decades behind the US in technologies such as Stealth, but, where they lack in this, one thing the Russians and for that matter, the Chinese & North Koreans are good at is hacking and espionage for financial gain and to gain information and technology.

During an expanded Defence Ministry meeting, Putin acknowledged the growing interest in AI development and application but failed to consolidate views on ethical evaluation.

So we should be asking ourselves, to what extent will Putin integrate AI into military technology and weapon systems, as well as the production of tanks, armoured vehicles & robots.

Evaluating potential risks and addressing issues like indiscriminate targeting or unforeseen escalation is crucial for responsible deployment, particularly in autonomous warfare machines.

The supersonic speed of how AI technology has advanced could be seen as scary, AI already possesses the ability to generate weapon recommendations during attack, humans can often delay decisions and second guess themselves, AI works out the solution in seconds, if not, less, but sometimes, thats a good thing. In fact often thats a good thing, humans have a conscience, AI doesn’t.

It would be prudent to keep an eye on Putin and his interest in acquiring and developing AI technology.